Bobber for fishing lines



Jana 1Q, 195@ Filed April 17, 1946 E. G. JOHNSON BOBBER FOR FISHINGLINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /a I ENTOR.

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BOBBER FOR FISHING LINES Filed April 17, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/ll v N V EN TOR. 56 M Patented Jan. 10,- 1950 UNITEDSTAT ES PATENT oFFlcE BOBBER FOR FISHING LINES 7 Elmer G. Johnson,Hibbing', Application April 17, 1946 Serial N0. 682,828

This invention relates to buoys or floats for use in connection withfishing lines. It is par tieularl-y intended as an adjunct to be used instill fishing either by rod and reel or with hand. lines and thedisclosure herein sets forth improvements on the construction of thereversible bobber described in my copending application- Serial No.635,485, filed December 17, 1945.

My present invention has for its object to pro vide a fishing linebobber which following a cast reverses itself from the position in whichit strikes the water and adjustably holds the hookv and sinker end ofsaid line at any selected depth and which will be upturned when a strikeoccurs and a fish runs with the bait.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fish line bobbercomprising a buoyant bod-y having a central runner or line guide whichis movable longitudinally in. the body and carries a weighted memberwhich is adjustable on the guide and acts as a counterweight tothe hook,sinker and lure enabling. a certain equilibriumto be maintained betweenthe two ends of the fishing line thus adding. to the sensitivity of thebuoy under different fishing conditions.

My invention also comprehends an arrangement of parts permitting theoperator to vary the depth at which the bait is suspended without thenecessity of reeling in the line, changing the position of the bobberthereon and making another cast.

To these and other ends my invention em bodies further improvements allof which. will: be fully described in the accompanying specification,the novel ieatures thereof being set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a. bobber embodying my invention shown insuspended or casting position which may be one of the positions assumedas it strikes the surface of the water.

' Figure 2 is a view of the device in fishing position being the reverseof that shown in Fig. 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are diagrammatic views similar to Figs. 1 and 2respectively as an aid in illustrating the action of the bobber on thesurface of the water under different manipulations of the.

fishing line.

Figure 5 is an enlarged central sectional view of the bobber in thefishing position of the parts.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view takenon the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is a detail side elevation of the line locking-head and Figure8 is a top plan view of said head.

5 Claims. (0!. 43-49) f Similar reference characters in the several.figures indicate similar parts.

an understanding of the construction of the bobber embodying myinvention will be an aid to the description of its operation. Oneof theparts which I utilize comprises a float i of cork or similar buoyantmaterial, which is preferably spherical and has an axial core 2, angularcross section-the ends 3 and 4 of which are splayed against the float toanchor the core and also protect {the contiguous faces of the cork andprovide abutments against which other parts ofthe apparatus may engage,

Guided. for free longitudinal movements in the core is a tubular runneror slide rodi constituting a line guide. It has an open. end 6surrounded by a bead I and at its other end: carries an oblate spheroidshapedhead 8. The latter is perforatedat one side, forming an eye asindicated at 9,

extending in a diagonal direction as an. offset continuation. oi alateral opening ill the rod. directly below the head 8. On the oppositeend of the rod between its beaded extremity and the body is'a slidablecounterweight H which serves. as a stop located. in spaced relation tothe head 8. by'means of which the relative movement of. the linegui'deor runner and the body I may be regulated for the purpose of maintainingequal sensitivity of the bobber as'a whole under varying weightedconditions'of the 'freeend of the.

line. Onoccasion difierent weight sinkers may be placed above the hook,again the size of the lure or bait inayvary, or' the fisherman. maydeve'lop a personal technique in hi's'manipulation of the bobber bywhich feels he can best operate hislirieby a particular setting of theweight; To: ac'c'o'iiiplishthesej several purposes I 'make the weightmovable and construct it in the form of a box which contains a doubleleaf. spring l2 having a central bearing'p'oint [3 which is adapted toengage i'nde'ntatioii's M in. the contiguousface of the bar 5. Theopenings [5: in the ends of the bo'x are' somewhat larger than thecrosssectfoho'f the. bar so that it may be moved trans"-verseiy'thereon' to compress the'spri'ng r2 sufficiently to enable theposition or the weight; to be shifted as occasion may require. v p p Afish line'A, asit' leads irom the end of the pole is threaded throughthe end 6 of the tubular-rod fin-a downwarddirection'in' Fig. 1', orupwardly in Fig. 4) and emerges from the aper tui 'e 0 whence/ ft passesthrough the opening or 7 eye 9 in the head &: From-tats point on thefree end a of the fishing. line: may of anyidesiredi A length andicar-ryyat its extremity a fish hook 20 1.

and the usual sinker 2| located relatively thereto.

It will be seen that the line A will travel freely under the combinedweight of the bait or lure and sinker when the rod is in the position ofFig. 1 and that it will be locked frictionally when the rod is in thereverse position (Fig. 4) by reason of the engagement of the head 8 withthe body I, the offset of the eye 9 being such that it will press saidline against the body I in the area of the flange 3 on the guide 2.

There are two alternative ways in which a. cast may be effected ineither of which the bobber is initially in the position shown in Fig. 1,i. c. with the float l in engagement with the head 8 on rod 5. The lineA may be drawn through the rod 5 until the sinker 2| is in engagementwith the head 8, or the free end a of the line may be extended toprovide the requisite length for the desired fishing depth below thebobber. In preparation for either of such castings the line A will befrictionally held by engagement of the body I with the head 8.Consequently when the bobber hits the surface of the water the thinupwardly extending end of rod 5 will immediately topple over without theline being released so that the apparatus assumes the position showninFigs. 2 and in full lines in Fig.4 and so floats.

The member I I is initially adjusted on rod 4 to act as a counterweightto the baited hook and sinker I4 so that a partial if not an evenbalance may be maintained with reference to the center of gravity of thefloat I, and for the float and its line guide. Consequently it is asimple matter to release the grip of head 8 on line A by causing the rod5 to be elevated as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and by a ripplingmovement of the lines, imparted by the end of the fish pole, to causethe rod to creep lengthwise in the float. Such vibrations in line A maybe used to either shorten the distance to its hook end or to lengthen itwithout creating any considerable displacement of said rod on the float.However, since the rod 5 has a limited amount of travel relatively tothe float I for the distance represented by the full line position andthe dotted line position of the float as shown in Fig. 1, it isalso'possible by the manipulation of line A to advance the rodsufliciently, as

shown in dotted lines in the diagrammatic illus-' tration Fig. 4, topermit the hook-sinker end a to draw the head 8 downwardly asillustrated in Fig. 3. In this position the line A may be paid out orretracted freely and when the desired fishing depth has been adjusted aquick retracting movement of the line, by reason'of the friction createdby the wetted line as it is drawn through the various partsof the lineguide will retract the latter to the point where the weight thereof willcause it to again topple over and assume the position shown in Fig. 2.

Only when a fish takes the bait and starts to run a tension is placed onthe hook end a of the line primarily which is imparted to the portionleading to the fish pole. This displaces the equilibrium of the parts tothe point where the bar 5 will be drawn through the float I untilarrested by the adjustable stop or counterweight II. Since the line thenruns freely through the bobber the operator may play his fish by feedingout theline if desired and when the fish indicates a state of exhaustionhe may reel in the line until the sinkercontacts the head 8.

A fisherman may manipulate his line in casting so as to cause the-bobberto strike the water surface in the'position shown in either Fig. 1 or"Fig. 3. According to FigL-l'the float I will then Gig be in the dottedline position permitting the line A to be paid out freely to sink thebaited hook, or lure, to the desired depth. At this point the bobber maybe toppled over or reversed by a sidewise tug on the line, this actionbeing aided by the counterbalance II. It will be seen from Fig. 3 thatthe counterbalance also acts automatically when a cast results inplacing the parts in the manner shown.

If desired the buoy may be painted in contrasting colors to designatedifferent hemispherical portions to aid in the visual observation of itsposition on the surface of the water.

Iclaim as my invention: 1. Afishing line bobber comprising a buoyantbody, a tube movable therethrough having 2. lateral opening and providedwith a head engaging one side of the body when the tube is in oneposition of adjustment, saidhead having a perforation offset from thewall of the tube, and a member on the tubeadjustable relatively to thetube and engaging the opposite side of the body when the'position of thetube is reversed with respect to the body. v

2. A bobber for a fishing line having its free end equipped with hookand lure, said bobber comprising a buoyant body, a tubular guide for theline, said line being movable longitudinally of the body and having ahead engaging one side of the body limiting the movement of the tube inone direction and frictionally locking the line to maintain the hook endthereof at a selected fishing depth, and a stop member adjustable on thetube at the opposite side of the body in spaced relation thereto servingin certain relative positions of the tube and body as a counterweight tothe hook end of the line.

3. A bobber for fishing lines comprising a tubu lar line guide open atone end and provided with a lateral opening at its other end and alsohaving an enlarged head having a perforation receiving and guiding saidline, a stop member adjustablew on the tube in spaced relation to thehead, and a buoyant body slidably carrying the tube and 10-.

cated between the head and said stop member and cooperatingwith the headin one position to lock the free end of the line to the body and in asecond position cooperating with the stop to float the tube withits headend uppermost. I 4; A bobber for fishing lines comprising a buoy.- antbody, a tubular line guide polygonal in cross section movablelongitudinally of the body andv having an enlarged head limiting itsmovement in I one direction by engagement with one side of the guide eyefor one portionof the line, said tube having indentations on one of itsfaces at the opposite side of the body, and a stop member on L the tubehaving means engaging said indentations for securing the stop member inany one of several selected positions in spaced relation to said headand serving to determine the movement of the bodytothetubular lineguide. V

mounted on a portion of the tube between a free endthereof and the floatand adapted to be held 0"in fixed relationthereto and spaced therefrom,and a head on theopposite end of the tube and in fixed relation thereto,the length of the space between the head and the weightbeing alwaysgreater than the length of the opening within the,

B'float, whereby thetube is capableof free sliding body, said headhaving a perforation forming a 5.'A combination of a tube, a floatprovided REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thefile of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Tufts Dec. 15, 1885Johnson Mar. 8, 1921 Lower June 6, 1922 Hampton Dec. 3, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS Country Date France Oct. 17, 1932

